


Apostrophes

by galaxbee



Series: Little Dragon Age Fics [12]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 12:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6153076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxbee/pseuds/galaxbee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cole's soft against her side, but she can feel the bony joint of his knee pressing into her leg and his elbow digging into her thigh. She doesn't mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apostrophes

Cole appears beside Josephine on the couch after sunset.

She looks up from her gazing into the fire, jumping slightly in shock. Her right hand finds its way to her chest, and she can feel her heart fluttering through the thick fabric of her nightclothes. After taking in the identity of the unexpected visitor, she lets out a relieved breath and relaxes into the plush fabric once more.

“Cole, you can't simply appear like that!” she admonishes, and he lifts his head to look at her, tilting it slightly.

“You remember. You weren't meant to,” he informs her, dropping his eyes to his hands, twisting his fingers. He lifts his head again after a moment, a bright realisation in his eyes. “Oh. A word, not warning, weaving a story of a helpful boy. She said that I would come.”

Josephine nods, remembering the conversation she'd had with the Inquisitor before the latter had left for the Western Approach. Everything she had been told about Cole matched the young man beside her, the most prominent being the vague recollection of meetings during the Inquisitor's absences.

A pang of worry forms in her stomach and settles there, and Josephine looks back at the flames burning merrily in the fireplace. Is the Inquisitor okay? She said she didn't know what she would find in Adamant. It's been a week already - what if they were waylaid? The journey to the Western Approach is long and trialling, and it worries Josephine without even mentioning what her love may find there.

Her attention is pulled from her thoughts by a warmth snuggling into her side, and she moves an arm to wrap around Cole’s shoulders before she even fully recognises the figure. Josephine lets her movement continue, resting her hand in Cole's hair as one of his hands moves to twine with the one in her lap. His warmth makes her notice the cold of the room, despite the fire, and she curls her body into his.

“She will come back. She asked me to look after you while she was gone, but I would have anyway. We're friends. I won't make you forget again,” Cole promises, voice soft. 

His thumb rubs circles on her skin, the repetitive movement soothing. The motion makes Josephine still the combing of her fingers through his hair, before his nudging prompts her to continue. Cole's soft against her side, but she can feel the bony joint of his knee pressing into her leg and his elbow digging into her thigh. She doesn't mind.

Josephine looks down at him, at the pale strands of hair falling over his face and the reflection of the fire in his eyes. She wants to trim the hair at his neck so that it no longer brushes his collar. She wants to find him a room to sleep in so that his eyes don't look so bruised. She wants to request fabric to fix the hole in his shirt. She wants to... stay like this, for a while.

Dawn finds the two curled up on the couch, shaped around each other, their bodies lit by the gentle light streaming through the window.

**Author's Note:**

> Leliana finds the two soon after. Cole looks up from Josephine to make a wordless request for her silence, and she leaves, resolving to return in an hour.


End file.
